Walking Forward
by WOWZAcoolBEANS
Summary: It was a path that would not be taken easily, but had to be taken nonetheless. There were things more important to Gilbert than his brothers.


**Title:** Walking Forward

**Synopsis:** It was a path that would not be taken easily, but had to be taken nonetheless. There were things more important to Gilbert than his brothers.

**Rating: **K+

**A/N**: Just something short and full of angst. Hope you enjoy.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own _Pandora Hearts_ or any of its characters.

**. . .**

There's a certain amount of regret that comes with every significant action that one takes—things like brushing your teeth are excluded from this—even when one feels that they are making the right decision.

"I think I can do this," he tells himself as he leaves the manor. It was not a sudden decision. It was not like he had just decided to pick up and go. Since the first attack he was always thinking of this, always wondering when he was going to do it. It wasn't a question of whether or not; it was a question of when. "I can…"

Break was waiting for him. Soon they would be able to get Oz out of the Abyss and Gilbert would have his master once again. But before that could happen and the world could return to the way that Gilbert wanted it to be, he had to make this step.

The only one in the house besides Gilbert was Vanessa, and she was busy with something or another, not to be distracted by something like her adopted brother leaving. It wasn't like he was making much noise, either. And he didn't have much to begin with, so he didn't have much to carry, either. No one would think that he was leaving forever. So why was he nervous?

Thinking of Oz and the strength that his young master had once given him, he closed his eyes and opened the large wooden door at the front of the Nightray manor.

The outside world was bright, and full of sunshine. It was a beautiful day; the sort of day that Oz had liked to go out in before his coming of age ceremony. It was also the sort of day that Elliot would drag Ernest out to play with him in the forest nearby when he was a boy. Gil remembered how he and Vincent would watch Elliot and his siblings—because sometimes Ernest was busy, so he'd have to ask another brother or, if he was really desperate, his sister—act like a real family. Vincent did it to laugh. Gil did it to see what it would have been like to have a family.

But he did have a family. Uncle Oscar, Ada and Oz had been his family. Sure, he had been their servant, but hadn't they treated him better than the bullying Nightray brothers and their sister? The only civil one had been Elliot, and even he had his moments. All the Nightrays had done for him was given him food, shelter, clothes, education and a job. Nothing more than that. And even if that list did seem like kind actions, they had not been kind. At times, they tolerated Gilbert, but they were rarely kind.

Not that he was overly sentimental or anything, he walks up until the gate and takes a look back at the foreboding home. In a way, he had grown up in the Nightray manor. Actually, not in a way. He had. The childhood that he could remember was spent in the Vessalius household and the Nightray household equally. So why was leaving one of those places so easy?

An attendant opens the gate for him and Gilbert walks through them, knowing full well that this may be one of the last times that he would do so. "Going on a trip, Gilbert-_sama_?" the man asks him. Not wanting to give an answer that may get out to the Nightrays—if they found out what he did so soon, there was still a chance that they could try to get him to come back—he shrugs and walks through them and starts down the road towards Pandora.

"Gilbert?" There's a voice from behind him. A familiar voice. "Is that you?"

There were two choices. Gilbert could either turn to face Elliot, his brother, and go back to the Nightrays without ever trying to escape, or he could pretend that he was not Gilbert Nightray, pretend that he had not heard his brother, and pretend that he didn't care that he was leaving someone who he did, against all odds, care about behind him, alone.

Gilbert walked on without turning. There would be no turning back now. All he could do was walk forward to the life that he had been fighting towards for so long.

**. . .**

_**Fin**_


End file.
